Authors: Charlotte Swanpol
Allie
“It’s nothing,” Vance mumbled, pulling away from me. He made his way into the bathroom and gently cleaned up the wound. I looked at him worriedly from the doorway, hoping he would tell me what had happened, but as I saw his cold and distant attitude, I knew he wouldn’t willingly give up the information I was looking for.
“Tell me what happened.” I pleaded, stepping into the bathroom. As I got closer, he moved away like he didn’t want me to touch him. I frowned thinking I had offended him somehow. “Vance…”
“Leave me alone.” His voice sounded cold as he made his way out of the bathroom. I thought about following him, but it didn’t seem like he wanted company right now. Numbly I made my way to the couch and sat down, trying to think if I had done something to upset him. My insecurities came to the forefront as I sat there nervously, toying with the hem of my shirt.
Eventually, I must’ve ended up falling asleep. I was curled up on the couch when I felt something soft brush against my cheek. I started to stir slightly, before opening my eyes. I looked up to see Vance standing there, looking apologetic. He ran his fingers through his hair for a moment, before kneeling down beside me.
His fingers ran through my hair as he stared at the wall in front of him. I tried to figure out what this could mean. Was there something wrong? I wanted to ask him, but the moment called for silence so I laid there, letting him caress me as the questions I had, threatened to burst out of me.
“Allie…” He whispered softly as he turned around and looked into my eyes. Gently, he took my face in his hands and kissed me. The kiss was different than all the ones before and it made my heartbeat fasten as I blushed deeply, trying to figure out what it all meant. Vance had never acted like this before.
“I…” There was somewhat of a nervousness on his face as he tried to say something. I offered a kind expression, trying to encourage him, but still the words were stuck in his throat like a knot.
“Tell me…” I whispered, trying to reach out and touch him.
“I…” He sighed and looked down, his eyes falling on the carpet as he picked at it with anxious fingers. “I just want to keep you safe…” He whispered softly. Somehow those words didn’t sound like what he had planned to say. I frowned.
“You have. You do.” I assured him, about to kiss him but he pulled away, an upset look on his face.
“I haven’t!” He yelled, getting up. His cheeks were red and it was obvious that something had upset him. I got up quickly, about to touch him when he once again pulled away from me. What was the meaning of this?
“Vance… you’re scaring me… what happened?” I pleaded, my eyes getting watery at the thought of Vance being angry with me. He said nothing and just walked away, letting the front door slam behind him as he left.
***
The next day I woke up to an empty bed. I frowned and rolled out of it, trying to cheer up, but I could feel my spirits fall at the thought of Vance still angry at me. What had I done? I couldn’t answer the question and it made me even more anxious.
Still I had a speech to give today. As the president of the biotechnology undergraduate research team, I was expected to explain to the incoming freshman what it was that we did. I would have been more than eager to do so if it wasn’t for the current situation. I sighed and got dressed, feeling numb as I grabbed my backpack and my speech.
As I made my way to campus I looked over the address as I bit into an apple. I wasn’t really paying attention to my surroundings as I crossed the road. Luckily, the traffic was still light, since it was really early in the morning. Eventually, I made it to the main green, where there were various booths set up for the induction fair.
I looked around, finding the booth indicated for my organization. I walked over to it and settled myself. I felt weird sitting on the stage. There would be other students on the panel, but as the president, I was expected to give the majority of the speech. A pang of nervousness washed over me as I tried to figure out the best way to phrase myself.
I fretted over word choice and everything else, as students started to file into the seats that had been set up on the lawn. Some of my colleagues sat down by my side and as we started to chat I began to slowly calm down.
Soon the event started and a faculty member took the honor of introducing the group, before moving the spotlight to me. I took a deep breath and fixed my papers before giving my speech. I felt my voice was strong and confident and I felt proud as the words started to flow from between my lips with ease.
My eyes scanned the crowd as this happened. I made eye contact with some perspective students and smiled at them, their eager faces encouraging me to go off script and assume a more natural persona.
As this happened, however, my eyes caught sight of Chad. He was sitting there with a sinister look on his face as he stared at me. There was something brewing in his mind. He was up to no good. The words stopped coming out of my mouth and a hushed silence fell over the crowd as they tried to understand my sudden hesitation.
I, on the other hand, could see nothing but Chad sitting there. He reached into his backpack and in his hand was a gun. My whole world froze. The last thing I remember was the sound of gunshots and people screaming.
The End of Book Two
Book One
Jade
Rays of early morning sunlight peeked through the lace curtains hanging sleepily in the window as Jade Evans stifled a yawn. Her alarm had been going off for forty-five minutes, by her design, but hitting snooze once more would put her in a precarious place. She reached over to her cell phone on the nightstand and turned off the alarm, laying back to blink at the ceiling a few moments longer.
“Big day,” she whispered into the darkness, trying not to think about just how big it was. She’d spent most of the previous day and night trying not to think about just how big it was, to no avail. Her dreams were wrought with anxiety, and were dripping with cliché. In one of them, she showed up at the wrong office, only to discover that she’d left the house without putting clothes on. When she reached for a gown or sheet, anything with which to cover herself, each in turn crumbled into a pile of frantic spiders at her feet. Soon, she wasn’t just trying to cover her nudity, but shield herself from the growing mounds of arachnids. Needless to say, she did not sleep well.
“Okay, Jade, pep-talk time. Today is the first day of the rest of your life; this is a fantastic opportunity, and a foot in the door. So, don’t screw it up.” She took a final deep breath and sighed, rolling out of bed.
As she went about her morning routine, Jade couldn’t help wondering what it would be like. Sure, she’d worked as a receptionist before, but that was in high school, and at a tanning salon. This – this was galaxies apart. She’d have responsibilities; like, actual responsibilities, beyond wiping down beds and pretending like the middle-aged women didn’t look like used-up leather luggage. Sure, maybe no one would die if she screwed up or got distracted, but her job was still important. Again, maybe to the hospital, she was replaceable, but this was an excellent opportunity to supplement her nursing degree with on-the-job experience. A receptionist position in the walk-in clinic may not be as exciting, or as in-depth a learning experience as emergency room reception, but it was a great stepping-stone. Work hard and make a good impression, and she just may land a job right out of college.
Jade sipped her coffee and ate her oatmeal in silence.
Lewis must be at the gym
, she thought. It was kind of nice; with so much going on in her mind, she wasn’t sure she could focus on anything else, anyway.
Just take it step by step
, she coached herself.
Everything’s going to be fine.
She stepped into the shower and let the almost-too-hot water drench her from head to toe, let it cleanse her of worry and doubt. She wasn’t sure why, but despite how anxious she felt, she couldn’t shake the feeling that today was going to be extraordinary. Maybe good, and maybe terrible, but it most definitely wouldn’t be ordinary. She felt confident that this was the first step toward her future, that she would finally begin the journey up from beneath her heavy past.
She heard the door to the apartment open and close, heard the keys jingle as they landed on the stand by the shoe rack, and smiled. Jade knew it was only a matter of time before Lewis peeled off his workout gear and climbed into the shower with her. True to a fault, a moment later, the shower curtain slid back, and her boyfriend slipped in.
“Good morning,” he breathed into her ear as he wrapped his arms around her. “How are you feeling? Excited for today?”
She breathed him in, deeply; he smelled faintly of pine and sweat, a comfortable combination of hard work and deodorant she’d grown to love over the past three years. They swayed gently beneath the fall of water, and she felt a small pulse near her rear. Grinning, she turned to face him.
“Yes, I’m excited,” she smiled. “I had some really terrible dreams, but I think, overall, I’m excited. I really can’t thank you enough, Lewis. It means the world to me.”
“Would you quit thanking me, already?” he huffed. “I overheard a classmate mention that her sister was going on maternity leave – the fact that her mat leave was from a position at a hospital made it my obligation to tell you. You were the one that nailed the interviews. You were the one they hired. You’re my girlfriend, and I love you, and I want to see you happy.”
Jade smiled and felt another, bigger pulse down below, but regretfully carried on with her bathing. Celebration-sex would have to wait until later – she was going to be late.
Peering at her reflection as she blow-dried her hair, a sad smile crept to Jade’s lips.
Don’t blow-dry your hair so much
, she heard her mother nag.
It’s going to damage it, and you’ve got such lovely hair!
As she ran a brush through her sable locks, she shrugged. Letting it dry on its own was not an option – it would take too long, and the knots that resulted were not worth it. She pulled it back into a ponytail that hung to her mid-back, and moved on to makeup.
What kind of impression do I want to make today?
she wondered.
Go in without anything, and they may think I don’t care. Go in looking too good and I’ll set the bar unreasonably high.
She decided on a light, fresh look, with a pop of liner that highlighted her grey-blue eyes; they were, in her opinion, her best feature. And, just to be safe, she finished it off with waterproof mascara. You never really knew what the day might bring, after all.
Jade rushed about the apartment, gathering her things into her knapsack, and worrying that she’d miss her bus. She went through her mental checklist, and once everything was accounted for, she turned to see Lewis smiling at her. She took another deep breath and tried to smile back, but she couldn’t help the tears that began to fall. In a breath, he was by her side, arms tight around her.
“You know she’d be proud of you. She is proud of you,” he breathed into her hair, and Jade nodded. She really hoped that was true.
“I knew today would be hard,” she began. “But I didn’t realize just how hard.”
She’d been so busy combatting her nerves, her anxiety and nausea, that she hadn’t noticed the emotion creeping up while her back was turned. Guilt.
“Get out there and give it your all,” Lewis murmured as he kissed her forehead. “They wouldn’t have hired you if they didn’t think you could do it.”
Jade nodded again, and kissed Lewis goodbye. As the door closed behind her, she forced herself to smile.
“It’s just the first day of the rest of your life,” she announced to the empty hallway. “You’ve got this.”
Owen
The sun was beginning its steady ascent into the heavens as each pounding step brought Owen Azavedo closer to home. In an often unpredictable and challenging field, his morning run was one of the few things he could count on. It got his heart pumping first thing in the morning, cleared his mind of the day before, and mentally prepared him for what he might encounter in the day to come. Today, especially, he needed to be prepared; he had an extremely full day ahead of him. With three different patients scheduled for lumpectomies, and one scheduled for an endarterectomy, it would certainly be a busy Monday even without any emergency surgeries that may arise.
He jogged past the mammoth oak tree on the corner of Cypress and 17
th
, and knew there was only half a mile left. He summoned every ounce of willpower he could muster and launched into a sprint. It felt great to push himself to the limit, to feel his muscles work harder; he felt the strength in his legs as they propelled him faster and faster, felt his lungs work to maintain their practiced, rhythmic pace. It felt great to know he was in control of his body, his progress. As he raced to his front porch, his finish line, he recalled the day he had moved into the house. It had been a difficult transition, at first, to move from the heart of downtown to the sleepy suburbs, but each day he found something new to love about his neighborhood; a locally owned coffee shop, an organic market, a free-range butcher. There were definitely things Owen missed about living in the bustling city, but he was well on his way to becoming familiar in his new home, comfortable. Maybe even happy.
Owen ran up the porch steps, three at a time, and checked his watch. Thirty-three minutes to run just under six miles. Though he was doubled over, panting, he beamed. He managed to shave four minutes off of yesterday’s time. He walked into his handsome little bungalow and unlaced his runners. As he strode into the bathroom, he stretched his limbs, cooling them down from the exertion. He tugged off his t-shirt and sweatpants and hung them on the towel bar to dry; he’d worked up quite a sweat this morning. As he stepped into the shower, Owen plucked the elastic from the base of his neck to release a mop of messy black curls that hung just below his ears.
It’s getting long
, he thought, running a hand through the locks.
I need to book a haircut.
He stood beneath the falling droplets and began his bathing routine; head to toe, each finger and nook, methodically scrubbing. What began as a pre-surgery practice had transformed into a daily habit. Cleanliness was next to godliness, of course.
When he exited the shower, his rich caramel skin glistened in his reflection. With Europe flowing fervently through his veins, he rarely lost his tan, his color and characteristic freckles only deepened with the heart of summer. Toweling off, he worked his way up from bottom to top, until every inch was dry, and then tied it around his waist. From bathing to shaving, and everything in between, Owen worked through his perfected list of tasks; from a young age, he’d learned the value of meticulous routine. That was one of the biggest factors to which he attributed his success in college, and then medical school and, ultimately, how he became one of the most highly sought after surgeons in the country. He enjoyed his routines – they, and his exercise, were a few of the things he felt he had control over in such a perpetually changing world.
Yeah, and I destroyed that run,
he thought, his wide grin crinkling the corners of his eyes. As he patted his jaw with aftershave, he considered his eyes that morning. Depending on the light, or what he wore, the color could vary immeasurably – they could appear anywhere from a soft, muted moss to a rich, deep forest green. That morning, however, they were brighter than usual. He wrote it off as endorphins or, perhaps, the leftover kiss of summertime on his cheeks.
This morning’s time was great, but tomorrow I push for even better!
Owen pressed on with his regimen, first dressing then breakfast, and decided to treat himself with an extra egg in his omelet, and the handsome charcoal dress shirt he’d been saving ‘for a special occasion.’ Feeling suave, and minty-fresh from the flossing, brushing, and mouthwash, he grabbed his keys from their hook by the door and took a deep breath. As he exhaled, he patted himself down, making sure he had everything he needed before taking a step out the door.
Keys, wallet, duffle bag, towel, scrubs are at work, sunglasses are in the car.
Once everything was accounted for, he nodded once more and declared, “Today is going to be a
great
day!” And though it had barely started, somehow he knew deep down, that it would be.